![]() ? If you’re placing the waterfall where water naturally runs off the property (as the Horners did), you will have to redirect the runoff to another part of the yard. ? Look online for ideas that fit your yard. A little slope goes a long way and a waterfall that is too high looks out of place. Using soil and rocks to create the slope works well, but be sure not to make it too high. However, if it is flat, you’ll have to create a slight slope to make the waterfall look natural. If your yard has a natural slope-great! Use it. ? Select the location carefully: The waterfall will have to fit in with the look of the surroundings. Mary added, “If we didn’t buy the extra lots, this wouldn’t be on our property.” We didn’t have to do much digging, and all of the natural limestone came from here.” Looking at the waterfall, Dave pointed out, “We saw an opportunity. Geese statues placed next to the waterfall attract visits from the live variety, and a small turtle figurine is often mistaken for a real one. Instead, a crane statue overlooks the water. Dave said they decided not to keep fish in the small pools because cranes have a flight path right over the waterfall and would make meals out of the fish. Dave noted, “Early on we had little frogs living around the water, but they disappeared because of the snakes.”īirds will often bathe in the flowing water. ![]() They also have to watch out for snakes hiding under the plants. Lilies will show up in the summer, and mums will appear in autumn, bringing orange and yellow to the flowerbeds.īesides weeding, keeping the cattails under control is the biggest gardening chore for the Horners. Bunches of Veronica Blue show off cone-shaped, blue flowers, contrasted by the wild geranium’s lavender-colored blooms. “I’m just keeping on the tradition,” he said.īeautiful annuals and perennials bloom along the waterfall’s edge. Dave got the gardening bug from his father. Mary’s love for gardening came from her grandmother, who would bring home seeds from friends’ gardens to sprinkle in her own. “It was on a paved road, but there was nothing else there back then,” Mary said. The couple got married in a church just off of Wannamaker Road. He was from Massachusetts, and Mary, a pastor’s daughter, grew up in Topeka. The Horners met when Dave was stationed at Forbes Field with the Air Force. Because of the hard water, the pumps have to be replaced every couple of years, which can be expensive at $300 to $400 each. Smaller pumps make water come out of the old hand pump, purchased at an antique store, and the metal frog, which is a new purchase from a NOTO Arts District shop.ĭave noted the primary drawback to keeping a waterfall is pump maintenance. Below the frog are huge pumps to cycle the water back to the top of the fall. Underneath the beauty hides the mechanics that make the water flow. A bench at the bottom serves as a gathering place for neighbors to visit and enjoy the sounds of the running water. ![]() There a metal frog sprays tiny water streams into the air. Now the water seems to come from an antique hand pump at the top of the waterfall, and then flows down through small collecting ponds to the largest one at the bottom. Besides installing the waterfall, landscaping was needed on the rest of the property to redirect the runoff so it wouldn’t damage the new water feature.Īlmost eight years have passed since the waterfall’s creation. With help from Bill Clark, a member of the Topeka Area Water Garden Society and a veteran waterfall builder, the work began. The Horners had a waterfall at their previous home, so it was natural to visualize one in the washed-out space. Just a gully with erosion from the water runoff from the rest of the property.” That is how they acquired land Dave described as “desolate. They also bought the empty lot and half of another lot next door. When the couple moved back to Topeka after thirty-plus years in Peabody, Massachusetts, they purchased a home in a development east of Lake Shawnee. Turning lemons into lemonade is how Dave and Mary Horner see the development of their waterfall garden.
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